Organisations are beginning to recognise that a proactive approach to the management of psychosocial risk (the interaction between psychological and social factors) can reap significant long-term benefits.

Organisations that seek to embed sustainability and climate change into core business activities have an advantage with real benefits.

We help organisations identify, develop and deliver strategies that address risk and opportunity while measuring their effectiveness. Whatever your sustainability or climate change challenges are, we’re here to help you.

In today’s environment, businesses can no longer ignore the physical and regulatory impacts of climate change. This presents opportunities, not just challenges, for organisations that act decisively.

EY’s climate change and energy team can help your organisation to maximise these opportunities through meeting compliance requirements, managing risks and thinking strategically.

The impact of climate change is increasingly difficult to predict and hard to plan for. We support organisations to develop their capacity for managing the future, whatever it may look like.

Our key services:

Greenhouse and energy audit

We have one of the largest teams of Registered Greenhouse and Energy Auditors in the country. We are here for all of your greenhouse and energy audit and compliance needs and are accredited to conduct audits under regulatory and voluntary programs. These include:

We assist clients in the definition, review and evaluation of programs and programs aimed at promoting emissions trading schemes, carbon finance, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Our global network of specialists also have experience in policy and programs from areas including Europe, China, South Korea and America and offer valuable insight.

Leading Australian and international businesses are now seeking new ways of communicating non-financial performance as stakeholders demand greater transparency to assess long term value.

Failure to monitor and report relevant, strategic, and reliable sustainability information can have a negative impact on business performance and reputation. Companies face mounting pressure to disclose their sustainability performance as various stakeholders are driving the disclosure agenda seeking a broader understanding of overall company performance.

Greater transparency leads to greater opportunities; customers want to align with brands showing strong sustainability platforms, employees are looking to work for companies with strong sustainability values, and government and regulators are increasingly ensuring organisations demonstrate sound governance and reflect wider stakeholder expectations.

International reporting regulations are also increasingly calling for greater sustainability disclosure. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has proposed a new standards-based approach to sustainability reporting, the IIRC’s Integrated Reporting initiative continues to gain momentum globally, and the ASX’s Corporate Governance Principles require ever greater reporting on material sustainability risks. These all have an impact on the way you report and the way assurance is provided. EY has been closely involved in the development of these frameworks and can help you transition to these new ways of communicating your sustainability performance.

Internal decision-making is enhanced where companies can value their material, social, economic and environmental impacts and articulate how such impacts contribute to – or detract from – business performance.

We help our clients respond to these drivers through the services outlined below.

Reporting advisory

Your reporting processes need to be robust to mitigate sustainability risks and create a thorough understanding of all the areas of value in your organisation including; intellectual, human, natural, social and relationship capital. Using our multidisciplinary and cross sectoral expertise we can:

Assist in the development of sustainability reports and communications

Undertake materiality assessment

Collect and collate sustainability data

Develop a reporting strategy

Identify material targets and metrics

Provide report benchmarking

Assurance

As global leaders in Assurance Services, we apply the same rigour as our Financial Audit Approach to non-financial metrics and information reported internally or externally.

Whether you need an independent perspective on quantitative or qualitative disclosures, and regardless of how mature your reporting is; we can help by adding confidence and enhance accountability for the sustainability information presented to your marketplace.

We are licenced to use AccountAbility's AA1000 standards, and have qualified Certified Sustainability Assurance Practitioner’s in our team

To survive and grow in an increasingly competitive and accountable operating environment, organisations need to build resilience and strengthen their ‘social licence to grow’.

EY’s sustainability advisory team can help your organisation to achieve this objective.

Our skills and experience:

Crafting business responses to emerging sustainability risks and opportunities

Assessing value at stake

Mitigating supply chain risks

Connecting organisations with the best practice trends, knowledge and skills

Our key services:

Strategy

Responding to existing and emerging sustainability risks is critical for any organisation. EY assist clients to identify and assess sustainability trends, risks and opportunities through:

Stakeholder engagement

Materiality assessments and benchmarking

Designing/developing an appropriate strategic response

Strategy implementation and assessment

Supply chain

An effective, strategic supply chain approach needs sustainable management and procurement. Our team of specialists have extensive, practical experience and help clients:

Understand the sustainability risks in the goods and services they purchase

Understand how these may impact their business

Develop a plan to mitigate risks

Implement best practice sustainable procurement systems

Human Rights

Instances of forced labour and land grabbing have been exposed in large companies’ supply chains both at home and abroad and many Australian companies are now expected to report under the UK Modern Slavery Act. Companies are increasingly expected to demonstrate how they respect human rights, whether in their own operations, in their supply chain, or through their relationships with other stakeholders to maintain their social license to operate.

Integrate social compliance into business processes, including procurement

Increase collaboration between social compliance and internal audit, risk and strategy teams

Advise on remediation and grievance processes

Value measurement

Organisations create value beyond what is captured by financial statements. There is a need to find new ways to demonstrate the total value created. EY assists organisations to:

Identify, measure and report on how they create value beyond traditional financial measures

To include broader social and environmental value in their reporting

To measure the change in value created over time

Capacity Building

Are you beginning your sustainability journey? Or focused on refining the process? Sometimes you need extra support to meet your objectives. This is why EY offers a tailored solution to support your organisation and build your capacity.

Research

Our key strength is gathering evidence so our work remains current. Our clients regularly commission us to undertake research on their behalf, to understand the landscape in a particular field, or to identify strategically aligned opportunities for investment in the community.

Our team is made up of a diverse range of HSE professionals; including auditors, systems designers, psychologists, environmentalists and engineers. We work with a broad range of clients across the full spectrum of health, safety and environmental services from audit and assurance to strategy, leadership and culture.

Our principles centre on a new, more relevant and effective way of managing HSE, where health, safety and environment are not processes in their own rights, but outcomes of business decisions, strategy, culture and performance. At its core is the empowerment of workers, so that they have an equal voice in developing answers, and therefore direct ownership of the strategies to improve HSE performance, in a manner that is linked to the overall business context.

We connect organisations and communities through powerful strategies, branded programs, and measurable change for elevated impact.

Business is a powerful force for positive change —in people, communities and the world. Through scale, expertise, resources and innovation, business enterprise has the potential to create unprecedented impact beyond the bottom line.

Our community investment team helps organisations maximise the business value and social impact of their community investment through:

Strategy - We identify ways to maximise the impact of your community investments and drive your core organisational objectives.

Development and implementation - We create and deliver behaviourally-focused, immersive experiences that bring your strategy to life.

Research – We develop insights to inform your ongoing strategy and help position your organisation as a recognised thought leader.

Measurement and story telling - We help you report on the ROI of your initiatives, the change you are driving and your social impact, amplifying your voice in the social impact conversation.

In March 2019, EY acquired the Australian and New Zealand operations of the Community Investment arm of the Karrikins Group. Read more here.

Connect with us

In this paper, we present an approach to the systematic management of psychosocial risks including the application of the hierarchy of control, and an effective assurance program to identify, assess, control and monitor risks to the mental health of your people.

This paper urges health and safety professionals to better leverage digital technology to address health and safety challenges, and provides guidance for success. Health and safety professionals need to shift their mindset towards a human-centred approach to make the most of digital technology.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.